running tests
in zero gravity
NASA asked us to design and build a way to measure how fluids behave in
space. Then we climbed aboard their zero-G simulation aircraft to test
it.

remote-controlled
robot subs
We outfitted robotic submarines to collect coastal dynamics data off Florida's
Gulf Coast, and set up a way to control them from our lab in Boulder,
Colorado.

R&D
lab
in a suitcase
NASA needed a way to monitor protein crystals growing on board the International
Space Station. We developed a custom laband fit it all into a ruggedized,
portable unit.

Testing
the technology in zero-gravity.

NASA's
Reduced Gravity Program
brings the unique weightless environment of space flight to earth with
the goal of developing space hardware, training astronauts, and running
engineering and scientific experiments. The reduced gravity environment
is obtained with a specially modified KC-135A turbojet transport that
flies parabolic arcs to produce weightless periods of 20 to 25 seconds,
bracketed by 1.8-g pullouts. The KC-135A also provides short periods
of lunar (1/6) and Martian (1/3) gravity. The aircraft cargo bay test
area is approximately 60 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 7 feet high. A
typical mission is 2 to 3 hours long and consists of 30 to 40 parabolas.

Some
operational g-levels and the corresponding time per maneuver (approximations):

The
aircraft is colorfully referred to as the "vomit comet," and
functioned briefly as a movie set during the filming of Apollo 13. Since
the program's beginnings in 1959, aerospace workers have flown over
80,000 parabolas in support of the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab,
Space Shuttle, and Space Station programs. We are honored to be among
the fewer than 1000 humans to have experienced the ride.